A four point attack/defend map in BLU's BioScience Center. RED must capture all three public environmental displays in order to gain access to BLU's underground rocket testing facility and capture the final point.

Closest to RED's spawnroom is capture point A, a winter display room with entry directly from their spawn room or a vent leading through a small pool of ice.
Capture point B is at the bottom of an aquarium, accessible either through an open pool of water or through a maintenance tunnel.
Connected to point A and B is the jungle room (C), a large biodome directly under BLU's two main spawn rooms.
Once C has been captured a hidden pathway opens in the jungle room for RED to capture the rocket testing facility (D) in the basement. After 20 seconds the rockets blast doors begin to open giving both teams direct access to the point from outside of point B. During this time BLU's spawn point is transfered to the basement and new routes become available to set up a proper defensive before RED has full access to the final control point.

I've started implementing the skybox and optimizing the map. Here's what I've done so far. Tell me what you think!

Everything outside the fence is skybox. I would like to add wires to the towers but every time I try the map goes over budget and won't run. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free.

If you're coming from the BLU spawn exit to capture point B, this is what you will see. I am going to make things a bit more centered in this view to give players something a little bit more interesting to look at.
En route to point B. I am planning on adding some rooftops in the background as this map takes place on the outskirts of a city.

Finally, the view from the vent through Capture point C which either BLU or RED can take as an alternate path to B.

I've never gotten to the skybox stage in a map but so far I am not too worried. Still, the only problem is that my map has too many props and surfaces at the moment so everytime I add something it means I need to take away from somewhere else... I'm open to suggestions at this point.

You are using a bit too much of those fences i think, you should try to use other things too, maybe some small buildings or so. And your jungle cap doesnt really look like a jungle yet, you need other trees and a lot more plants for that. Also, could you draw the cap order of your points in that overview, with arrows or so, because im not sure if i got it right which is the last point and so

But I have to say this map looks really good from the pictures, hope this is in a playtest soon (dunno if it had already been).

You are using a bit too much of those fences i think, you should try to use other things too, maybe some small buildings or so. And your jungle cap doesnt really look like a jungle yet, you need other trees and a lot more plants for that. Also, could you draw the cap order of your points in that overview, with arrows or so, because im not sure if i got it right which is the last point and so

But I have to say this map looks really good from the pictures, hope this is in a playtest soon (dunno if it had already been).

Click to expand...

The Jungle CP doesn't have a lot of foliage because I am still designing it and not yet sure if it's worth it yet. There are also too many props in the map at the moment (which is why the outdoor cap looks so barren with all those fences...).

Have you tried the map? There are arrows and cap letters above nearly every door.

Second Alpha has been uploaded. If an experienced mapper could give the map a run through it would be appreciated. I would like to work out as many kinks as possible before I compile a Beta for a public test.

I took out almost all of the fences from outside to B cap point and replaced them with walls (thank you for the suggestion, Nameless). I've also included a picture of RED's alternate route to cap point A.

This map is ready to run publicly, if anyone would like to host a game or two on it PM me so I can join in and see how it does.

CHANGE LOG:
- Severe optimization (lowered prop count and added func_details)
- Added cover for BLU players heading to point B through alternate route.
- Changed lighting on point C
- Replaced HL2 textures on point A with temporary TF2 textures (not happy with how this looks)
- Fixed hole in ceiling on tunnel between B and C
- Widened and re-textured alternate route from RED spawn to point A
- Added more directional signs in basement
- Various details in inaccessible areas
- Fixed players clipping through wall near med-kit in basement (opposite side of CP)
- Added perch above entrance to point C
- Reduced player spawns to 24 to fix spawn room glitch*
- Reduced capture time for point C to 4 seconds.
- Fixed a lot of corners and props that players would often get snagged on.

*Players would not appear in secondary spawn for some reason, this has fixed it. The map is also designed for a maximum of 24 players as there are not many wide open spaces.

try using the jungle pack which someone made on this site in the jungle room i'll put a link to it on here and advise putting more in the skybox and making it look less flat outside also make a big fishtank full of frogs i <3 that frog

Those life preserves are pretty fantastic and I'll be sure to add one or two to the map.

I've already considered using the jungle pack but that isn't the type of jungle I wanted to include in the map. That looks more like a coastal tropical island, where I want something similar to the jungles you would see in Mexico or Peru with thick, larger trees and thicker canopy's.
I am designing the trees and will post them here if any body would like to tackle modeling them. I also have a friend who is helping model some of the surprises I have planned for the map...

Concerning the hallway in the basement, could you tell me which areas look bland because it has been detailed based on what you will see while playing the map?

Anyone who's playing the map with us tomorrow, my main concern is cap time and attack routes. Cosmetic suggestions are fine but I'd like to make the map as fun as possible before I work on making it look good.

Hey, I saw your map posting in the LC thread, Valve SDK kit thread, and main TF2 thread on SA, I finally had the chance to look this over. The playstyle looks neat.

Two major issues that come to mind immediately is the lack of playerclip brushes. There's a lip into the room for A cap point which is infinitely frustrating to keep getting tripped up on; I would playerclip over that. You also have a lot of stairs (e.g. at B) that aren't playerclipped over, I would go over the whole map and playerclip the whole thing, erring on the side of caution.

The other issue is that there are some safety rails outside of B that prevent you from exiting the water in a lot of areas which you can't see from inside the water; I would remove those altogether. If you have to keep them in, move them further away from the edge so you have a tiny ledge to jump onto out of the water, and then jump over the safety rails.

For the GUI, is it possible to have the CP icons all in a row? This is a single stage A/D map, the two tier style makes players think it's a gravelpit style A/D map where more than one CP is open at a time.